Case Studies > Absolute helps primary school quickly recover from major laptop theft

Absolute helps primary school quickly recover from major laptop theft

Company Size

11-200

Region

Europe

Country

United Kingdom

Product

Absolute

Tech Stack

Absolute Customer Centre

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Customer Satisfaction
Employee Satisfaction

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Endpoint Security
Cybersecurity & Privacy - Security Compliance

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Facility Management

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management
Theft Detection

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

Millfields Primary School is a state-funded school on the outskirts of Colchester in Essex, South East England. It has 34 teachers and administration staff who look after 212 pupils aged between 4 and 11 years old. The school is in a semi-rural area and has facilities such as playgrounds, sports fields, and natural, wooded areas available for the children. The use and teaching of information and communications technology (ICT), even in primary education, is a key part of the curriculum. Not only is ICT taught as a subject, but it is also used to support other subjects as a learning and teaching aid for children and teachers. Millfields School has invested in laptop computers, so that every pupil in a class has access to a computer. The laptops are shared around the school and are used every day.

The Challenge

It came as a huge shock and a significant disruption to the children’s education when the school’s laptops were stolen, not once, but three times in one year. Despite a number of security measures, including alarms connected to the local police, pupils’ laptops were stolen multiple times. Although the school was covered by insurance and was able to replace the laptops, disruption to the learning and teaching was significant. It can take up to eight weeks to verify the insurance claim, obtain replacement quotes, acquire new laptops and have software reinstalled. This meant that the children were without their laptops for the best part of half a term.

The Solution

After the second theft, Millfields implemented additional security measures, including a special secure laptop trolley. Unfortunately, it only held 30 laptops and additional devices that had been left outside the trolley were stolen. But this time Absolute was installed on the devices. Millfields immediately contacted Absolute and logged details of the stolen laptops via the online Absolute Customer Centre. The Absolute Investigations team began an investigation. Within two weeks Absolute had tracked the devices to a local shop and engaged the police who recovered and checked the devices before returning them in full working condition to the school. Millfields was impressed with the quick and proactive response from Absolute and the regular communication and updates that were provided during the investigation. They have now extended Absolute onto staff laptops.

Operational Impact

Laptops are returned to students for classroom use more quickly, reducing disruption.
IT resources are not needed to set up replacement laptops, saving time and effort.
Millfields doesn’t need to pay the £1,500 insurance excess, resulting in cost savings.
Theft is deterred, creating a safer environment for students and teachers.

Quantitative Benefit